The Land
The geographical area known today as Anioma, covering a land area within the western plains of the River Niger, was discovered by waves of immigrants from the mid-ninth century AD. Information on Anioma during this early period is based mainly on oral tradition and the sketchy memoirs of some of the early foreign explorers, missionaries and colonial administrators.
Anioma shares borders with Anambra State to the East, Edo State to the West, Ondo State to the North-West, Kogi State to the North and the Bight of Benin to the South. A land of lush, vibrant vegetation and rolling fields, sandy beaches, mangrove swamps and rainforest, Anioma enjoys an interesting climatic mix of the tropical and sub-tropical. There are two well-marked
In several accounts of colonial and post-colonial Nigeria alike, they have been mostly neglected and at best treated as appendages of the Igbos of the south-east. Worse still is the inclination to misrepresent and distort facts.
A few cases are pertinent:
Blackout on Ekwunokwu ‘Ekumeku’ Uprising
Most of the reports on the courageous uprising by Anioma people against imperialism were either given passing mention or interpreted as a rebellion by ‘a band of savages’.
On the contrary, this was an organized movement of Anioma freedom fighters who stoutly resisted the economic, social and political domination of the Europeans.
Relegation of Anioma Royal Fathers
Nigerian history has neglected to record benevolent contributions of Anioma traditional rulers towards the socio-political and economic development of the country. In the past and present, there are several eminent royal fathers and royal mothers of Anioma whose reigns have made tremendous impact on their kingdoms and environs. Among these are the Asagbas of Asaba; the Obis of Abavo, Aboh, Agbor, Akwukwu-Igbo, Ashama, Ejeme-Aniogor, Ejeme-Unor, Ewulu, Ezi, Ibusa, Idumuje-Ugboko, Idumuje-Unor, Igbodo, Issele-Azagba, Issele-Uku, Obomkpa, Ogwashi-Ukwu, Onicha-Ugbo, Otolokpo, Owa, Ubulu-Uku, Ubulu-Uno, Ukwu-Nzu, Umunede, Ute-Ogbeje; the Agbogidis; the Diokpas; the Okpala-Ukus; the Igwes and the
In addition to above towns located in Delta State, there are others in five other States of the Federation which share common ancestry with Anioma people.
a. The Ndoni community which was ceded to Rivers State in 1976. Interestingly, the area has vasts quantities of crude oil.
b. Igbanke [formerly known as Igboakiri] and Ekpon went to Edo State in 1991.
c. In the southern parts of Ondo and Oyo States, the descendants of certain Anioma towns – Ugbodu, Ukwunzu, Ubulubu, among others – have coexisted with their Yoruba-speaking neighbours, and over time evolved a cross-cultural language known as “Olukunmi”; literally meaning “We are friends”.
d. In Anambra State, people of Anioma ancestry are found in Obosi, Atani, Osamola, Ogbaru and Ozoubulu.
e. Similarly, Oguta in Imo State has a sizeable population of Anioma descendants.
f. Anioma community is indeed a “microcosm of